


What Lovers Do

by KingSmoft



Series: McReyes Valentine's Week 2018 [5]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Fluff, M/M, McReyes Week, Pining, Slight gory details (covers the aftermath of jesse losing his arm), codeword: devotion, mcreyes - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-20 12:59:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13718196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingSmoft/pseuds/KingSmoft
Summary: There was an 8-letter word that ruled every decision, every action, every thought that he made. There was a 4-letter word that gave birth to it, nurtured it, killed it. Some people would say these words were ‘religion’ and ‘fear’, or maybe even ‘weakness’ and ‘love’. But for Jesse, the words pulling at his puppet strings were ‘devotion’ and ‘Gabe’.





	What Lovers Do

** The Meeting **

When Gabriel Reyes, second in command of Overwatch, first in command of Blackwatch, certified badass, was ordered to clear out the Deadlock occupation along Route 66, he hadn’t expected to pick up a scrawny, stick of a gang member with an attitude problem. And a terrible soul patch, dear God.

“I can’t believe we’re trying to get info out of this little asshole.” One of Gabe’s lieutenants had hissed at him when he exited the makeshift interrogation room. Really all it had consisted of was a rotted wooden table and two metals chairs. He wouldn’t doubt if the scrappy kid could find a way to break out of it, even with cuffs on. The Commander leaned against the door and drug a hand down his face. They needed that info, they needed to find the Deadlock base.

“Let me go in, Boss.” The lieutenant cracked his knuckles, a wicked grin on his face.

“No, Jeffreys. I’ll handle this. We don’t need you suffocating him with his own intestines like the last one. I already told you that you need to chill. We’re not here to torture these pendejos.”

The lieutenant skulked away, muttering venomously about ‘pendejos’ and the Boss’s ‘stupid spanish lingo and morals.’ Gabe rolled his eyes and pulled the interrogation room’s door back open with an ear piercing screech!

The kid remained quiet. His scraped and bloody arms defensively crossed over his chest, deep brown eyes downcast, a battered cowboy hat tugged over his face. If he wasn’t protecting the other lowlifes in the canyons, he’d applaud his loyalty. Gabe had been in his same position before… The long scars on his face were an old reminder, not that he could ever forget.

Gabe leaned on the table, his large hands spread out, his face up in the kid’s. When he spoke, his voice was low and light, but somehow managed to seethe and claw at the young gangster’s throat like demonic tendrils pouring out of his mouth. And yet the kid resisted, sparkling tear drops in the edges of his eyes.

For the first time in years, Gabriel Reyes felt a tell-tale ping in the cavity of his chest.

“Mierda,” Reyes muttered, pulling back from the kid who was now glaring at him.

“Hijo de puta,” The kid spat him. So he knew Spanish after all? Maybe it was a side effect from growing up in gangs around Santa Fe. Gabe sat down across from him, the chair spun backwards. He sighed. Time to change tactics.

“Look, kid, you can either rot in the darkest, coldest, wettest prison in southern Spain that we can find, or you can get your fuckin’ act together and use your skills for Blackwatch.” Gabe toughened his voice, using the Commander Bark™️ as Jeffreys called it.

The kid just scoffed. “What? To become a used bitch by that pussy-licking, stuck up reject of government dogs you call Overwatch? I’d rather get fucked by the shit eating buzzard brains in there and tossed over a cliff to die.” He spat on the table close to Gabe’s hand, making him raise an eyebrow. It was the most he had said since they locked him up in here. “Fuck you.”

Unfortunately to his literal kicking and screaming, Reyes brought him back to the Gibraltar base. He was given food, a change of clothes, and a cell in the design of a small room. The kid denied them, knocking everything to the floor and refusing to use anything in the room, including the cot.

“Why did you bring him back here?” Jack had pulled Gabe aside with Ana at his side. “The hell were you thinking?!”

“I was thinking that a ragtag heathen from the gangs of North America could be saved from the shit storm he was forced into.” Gabe stared at his old friend.

“Gabe, I—I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to—” Jack backpedalled, looking toward Ana for support.

Gabriel cut them both of before either of them could speak. “Yeah. Sure. There’s only enough room for one lowlife on the Overwatch payroll at a time, huh? Should I ‘decommission’ myself so someone else has a chance?”

“Gabe, that’s not—!” The Blackwatch commander turned on his heel, stalking back out to where the new kid’s holding cell was. He instantly regretted everything he had said to Jack, knowing he full well didn’t mean there wasn’t room for two ex-gang members.

  
**A New Beginning**

“Now! Shoot!”

Jesse quickly pulled the trigger on his new six shooter revolver, a. It was a simple thing, black with an added laser scope. Reyes had ordered it for him when he finally agreed to join Blackwatch.

It had been months since Reyes first whisked him away from the gangs of the southern US. He touched a hand the skull tattoo on his forearm. You can take the boy out of the desert, but apparently you can’t take the desert out of the boy. Not without surgery and a finely tuned laser. No, he had decided to keep the tattoo as a reminder. How he’d never fuck up again, and would strive to make Gabe proud.

“Hey, get your head out of your ass, this is a training simulator, not day dream hour!” A fellow recruit shouted to him over the sounds of gun fire.

“Yeah, yeah, shut the fuck up, Mullen!” He aimed his gun, barely relying on the laser sight, and shot the holographic enemy that popped up behind the other guy. “Who needs you when they’ve got me?”

Jesse flourished his gun around, showing off. A training robot popped up behind him and elbowed him, knocking him flat onto his face. Mullen bust out laughing, not paying attention himself, and got a rubber bullet shot into his vest. He cried out and looked around.

The intercom crackled to life overhead as the simulation shut down around them, the robots heading off and the holograms flicking away.

“What the hell are you two doing?! Get your asses back into gear and complete this damn thing.” Reyes shouted. He sat in an overlook room above the arena, sighing into his hands. He had taken a chance on these two idiots, so he’d be damned if he couldn’t turn them into the best agents Blackwatch had ever seen.

After two more attempts, one of which was full of bickering, the two had finally managed to take out the target. Gabe commed them in for a briefing. Jesse came bounding in, eager to know if he had done well in the exercise. It may have only been a few months, but once McCree had gotten to know Gabe, he instantly attached to him like a puppy. The kid had to admit that his boss was insanely attractive, and the way he handled his dual shotguns was beyond impressive. He almost didn’t care if his affection showed every time he spoke to the older man.

Jesse leaned against the control desk Gabe sat at, crossing his legs and supporting himself with his hands on the desk. Mullen stood a small distance away from Reyes, legs spread strong and wide, his arms crossed. Gabe swiveled around in the chair, glancing up and down Jesse, trying to ignore the closeness with which he constantly existed, then over to Mullen.

He remained seated while he spoke to his newest recruits. “How old are you two?”

Jesse paused. “Uh, 19, boss.”

Mullen stiffened when Gabe shifted his deadly gaze to him. “21, sir.”

“Then why the hell are you two acting like a couple of goddamn 10 year olds fighting over who gets to play with the legos?!”

Both men hung their heads. Jesse pulled his red bandana up over his mouth and hid his hands in his pockets.

“If you want to be taken seriously by Overwatch and the UN, then you have to get your shit together, guys. Now, I believe that you can be some of our best agents, even better than Overwatch’s. But you won’t get there if you insist on snapping at each other’s necks and being cocky little shits. Got it?”

“Yes, boss.” The two new agents muttered together.

“Now get out of here and get some rest. We’ve got a phone council meeting with Jack and the ‘pussy-lickers’ tomorrow about your status.”

Mullen stifled a laugh as a searing heat rushed over McCree’s face and neck at Gabe’s jab from when they first met. He cleared his throat and pulled his hat down over his face. Mullen slapped Jesse on the shoulder before leaving for a well needed shower.

The youngest remained at the desk, wanting to talk and be around Gabe but unsure of what to say. He wanted to make him proud… but felt like he was on a fast track to being kicked to the curb like a mutt.

“S-Sorry, boss…” Jess mumbled, keep his eyes and head down. “Didn’t mean to disappoint you.”

“McCree—Jesse,” Gabe started. Jesse flinched at the sound of Gabe standing out of the chair. He practically ducked away from the older man when Reyes reached out toward him. He pulled his hand away, heart breaking at his reaction. Gabe couldn’t help but wonder if this was a side effect of how he treated him when they first ‘met’ or if the worst rumors of the Deadlock gang were true… “You didn’t… You didn’t disappoint me, Jesse.”

Jess looked up at Gabe from under his hat. The crystalline drops of tears shone in the teens eyes around the look of mild surprise. He dropped his head once more, this time angrily, crossing his arms tightly over his chest. “Why the fuck wouldn’t you be? I’m just as useless as I always have been. I cain’t even complete a simple training exercise, how am I supposed to carry out actual missions?!”

Reyes exhaled softly. The cocky façade he threw into everyone’s faces was breaking down in front of him. He stepped over slowly to Jesse. He was just a kid goddamnit. There was no telling how long he had grown up in that fucking gang. It made his blood boil to think Jesse was going through the exact same self-loathing he had in his SEP days because of those fuckers. Gabe pushed the anger down. Jesse didn’t need to see him yell right now.

“Jesse, I’m serious. You’re not disappointing anyone. You’re a kid, for crying out loud.” Gabe sat on the table next to him, pulling a leg partway up onto the desk so he could face him.

“I ain’t a kid.” Jesse spat. When he looked up to Gabe, there was a new fire in his eyes. Jesse would prove it to him. He leaned forward, quickly grabbing Gabe by the shirt. Their lips pressed together in a hasty, unexperienced kiss. Gabe’s eyes flew wide open, and he pushed Jesse back by the shoulders.

“McCree, what are you doing?!”

“I told you, I ain’t a kid!”

“You can’t just kiss me like that, though. Alright? For one, I’m your friggin’ boss.” Gabe stood up, putting a hand to his mouth and the other to his hip. His heart had slammed into his throat, threatening to choke him. Fuck.

Jesse slid off the desk, moving toward Gabe in the same way he had for every Deadlock mission that required him to seduce some disgusting asshole in a bar. He ran his hands up Gabe’s chest and pressed into him. “Is that all? You know I can still call you ‘Boss’ whenever you want. Or even jefe if you prefer Spanish.”

Gabe swooped up Jesse’s hands into his. God he couldn’t do this. “Jesse, no. I’ll talk with you, help you through this, but I’m not gonna take advantage of you like this. I know what Deadlock had you do, and you don’t have to simulate that here.”

Jesse ripped his hands away from Gabe. “Ya ain’t got no fuckin’ idea what Deadlock had me do.”

He left, slamming the door behind him. Gabe leaned back against the desk, running a hand over his face and pausing at his lips. The rough feeling of trembling lips still held his with a ghostly tingle.

  
**When Hearts Collide**

Jesse had taken Gabe up on his offer to talk, though it took him weeks of late night visits to the illustrious Commander’s room before he even dared to bring up anything personal. Gabe would work at his desk, sleek black glasses on his nose, while Jesse would lay his bed, rambling about whatever shit he and Mullen had gotten themselves into that week.

Sometimes Jess would barely remove his uniform before running to Gabe’s, others he would barely bother with a pair of sweats (no shirt). There were also times that Gabe slid open the door to his room to see a mostly naked Jesse wearing only a pair of bikini styled panties rifling through his drawers. This particular instance was two years down the road. They had become accustomed to each other’s presence, each one harboring their own heart-wrenching, gut-twisting, finger-tingling feelings for the other.

“Where’s all your hoodies, old man?” Jesse pulled everything but hoodies out of the drawer, tossing them aside. Gabe swallowed the huge lump that had made its home in his throat when Jesse bent over to pull out a long sleeve. “Nope, not it.”

“Check the closet.” Reyes had managed around the lust building up in the pit of his abdomen. “And put some fucking clothes on.”

“Whatcha think I’m tryna do?”

“Destroy my life?” Gabe sat the papers in his hands on the desk and laid on the bed. His hand fell onto his forehead as he staring up at the white ceiling. He briefly entertained the idea of cleaning out the cobwebs in the corners.

“Aw, I would never.” Jesse let out an “ah-hah!” of triumph, finally finding what he had been looking for. It was one of gabe’s black hoodies, one he usually reserved for training, missions, or days off. Basically his normal and only hoodie, which he had several off.

“Aw, you always do.”

The sly agent grinned as he pulled the hoodie on, foregoing pants. The hoodie just barely didn’t cover all of him, showing some of his ass and pink undies. He jumped onto the bed, landing on top of Gabe. He wiggled into place, covering his neediness in innocence.

“You’re in my spot, mi Gabito,” Jesse purred above him.

Gabe struggled to keep his breathing normal. Too bad he couldn’t control how fast his traitorous heart was beating. He stared at Jesse while he playfully kicked his feet in the air and grinned down at him.

“What are you doing, Jesse…?” Gabe spoke with the utmost care, trying to remain calm.

Jesse rested his head in his hands, his elbows on either side of Gabe’s head. “Cain’t a guy lay on his friend?”

“I guess?” The younger man took Gabe’s answer as an OK to stay where he was.

“So I met that new recruit today… Genji, was it? He seems, uh, nice? Beat my ass into the goddamn ground, though. Haven’t had someone pin me within a minute like he did in a long time.”

Gabe focused on what McCree was saying with intense fervor. He remembered that kid; the Shimada heir that should’ve died, would’ve died, if not for Overwatch’s intervention. “He’s that good, eh?”

“Better! I don’t think he was holding back… probably woulda killed me if Jeffreys wasn’t there, but, man, hoo… He’s strong.” Jesse laid his head down on Gabe’s chest. His fingers gingerly, even shyly, played with the curly tips of Gabe’s hair. The undercut was prickly, freshly shaved just a day or two ago. “I need a nap, though.”

Gabe hesitated with hands. What should he do with them? They itched like he was holding lightning bugs in his fists, desperate to hold onto Jesse as he napped on top of him. The commander was glad that he hadn’t gotten too much heavier since the first day, though his super soldier body might have something to do with his not crushing him right now.

“Boss,” Jesse said, voice muffled slightly by the fact that his face was pressed into his chest. “You can hold me if you want.”

Gabe moved his arm to put it under Jesse’s loving the feeling of his fingers in his hair. He cautiously rested his hands on the small of Jesse’s back, the memory of how he flinched away from him two years ago still stuck in his head.

  
**A World of Pain**

Years. For years Gabe watched as Jesse grew into the man even Overwatch and the UN would respect. He was awarded medals with the rest of them, given a specially made gun, and the liberty to choose his own missions (with suggestions by the overheads of course).

The older man also watched as he flirted with other agents and civilians. A black tendril in the back of his mind clawed at his heart, insisting he had moved on from Gabe, gotten tired of his shit. Self-hatred flared up inside him like a bonfire.

A growl rolled up from his neck that turned into a raspy cough. “Fuck. What the hell are you even doing to me, O’Deorain?”

“You said you wanted to become a better agent.” Her voice was cold, calculated, and calm.

“Yeah, well, if you’re done messing with me today, I’d like to go.”

“Fine. You’re free to go.” Moira waved her long fingers in the air. As Gabe got up to leave, she turned away from him, but spoke just as calmly as before, “Instead of pouting in your room, why don’t you tell that odd cowboy how you feel?”

Gabe froze in the doorway, hand on the frame. “Why do you care?”

“I don’t. It’s just distracting me from my work if you keep coming in here all…” Moira flicked her hand in the air, searching for the words. “Well, you know. I suggested fixing it, or getting over it.”

“Yeah.” The lonely commander let the door close behind him. He drifted down the halls like a specter haunting the base. A nice stiff drink could serve him well in what he should do.

Gabe holed himself up in his room for several days. Which wouldn’t have been anything unusual if he hadn’t been ignoring everyone’s calls and messages, especially McCree’s. So he shouldn’t have been surprised when a knock on his door was followed by the message ‘let me in’ from ‘Stupid Vaquero.’ Two more knocks came before he got another message.

   **To:** Gabito  
   **From:** Stupid Vaquero 

   I’m not leaving until you let me in.

Gabe groaned. He forcibly stood up from his chair, making it roll halfway across the room. When the door slid open, Gabe growled, “Ok, now leave.”

“The fuck is your issue?” He jabbed a finger into Gabe’s chest for emphasis. “I ain’t leavin’ until you tell me why you’ve been pushing me away, especially in the last year.”

Jesse shoved his way inside, refusing to let Gabe shut the door on him again. He hadn’t been back in this room for over two years. Reyes was either ‘too busy’ or ‘too tired’ and eventually… He had just given up, figuring Gabe didn’t want him around anyway. But a creepy little bird had clued him in, suggesting they should talk. He knew better than to listen to Moira, but he also knew she was right. The stubborn asshole would never come to him first, so he had to barge his way into Gabe’s room and make him talk one way or another.

“I don’t have anything to say to you, Jesse.” Gabe sat on his bed and sighed.

“That’s not what Moira said and that’s definitely not what your body language these past two god forsaken years has said.”

Gabe could tell Jesse was angry. It tore at his heart, knowing the man in front of him felt this way because of him. The black tendrils were back, wrapping around his brain and heart, clogging up his vision with smoke. He had to make him leave. Jesse deserved better.

“You listened to Moira?” Gabe stood, his voice rising. “The fuck would you listen to her for?”

Jesse stepped forward. He was in his face again. The stupid soul patch had started spreading out along his chin, puffing out into a full-fledged beard. Just one more step and Gabe could’ve run his fingers through it, kissing him like he had ached to do that night Jesse fell asleep on top of him so many lifetimes ago…

“Why? Because I knew your stubborn ass wouldn’t! Why?! Because I’ve sat here loving your fucking contradicting signals giving ass for ten years straight but never having the guts to tell you because I was never sure I could! Because it didn’t matter how many other people I fucked, I still thought of you every single time and silently screamed your name instead of theirs!” Jesse’s voice had rose incrementally until he was yelling the last sentence. He took a shaky breath, walking away from Gabe, a hand running down his face. “‘Cause I cain’t fuckin’ do this anymore if you don’t feel the same.”

Reyes froze. All his years of training, all his years of fighting in wars, putting his life on the line, protecting and serving the people and omnics of the world, nothing had prepared him to deal with McCree literally yelling his feelings at him. Feelings that Gabe returned but couldn’t possibly let him know.

“I—” Gabe started, but Jess cut him off.

“Don’t worry about it, boss. I already know the answer. God, I knew the answer the moment you pushed me away all those years ago when I tried to kiss you. Shoulda just gave up then.” The defeated man quickly turned to leave.

“Jesse—” Gabe attempted, but was ignored. “Jesse…”

The sandman didn’t come to either man that night, even though McCree had a mission the next day with his old partner Mullen. Genji was off elsewhere, exploring the mountains of Nepal. He was once again completely alone.

He hadn’t known it, but this time it was Gabe hiding in the hangar bay as McCree and Mullen’s jet took off. They had a medic with them as backup, even though the probability of needing one was low.

Regardless, Reyes spent the entire day pacing up and down his room, blasting classic rock into his ears, and picking at the food on his plate. He had instantly regretted not chasing after Jesse and planting the biggest kiss he could manage on him.

So when their return time was missed that night, and an hour, then another, and a final excruciating hour passed before the plane came to a screeching halt in the hangar, Gabe dashed to the intake area. The sight before him nearly made his knees buckle. His heart slammed into his ribcage, threatening to break out. In front of him lay Jesse on a medical gurney, blood covering him like he had a fatal paint fight with the color red, an oxygen mask being held into place by a nurse. But that wasn’t the worst part, no. The worst part was that where his branded forearm had once been, was now a stringy mess, blood seeping out of the rags being pressed up against his elbow.

This time… This time the tendrils seeped out of him. They released his heart, his mind, his hands, his feet. Gabe rushed forward. A voice was shouting, screaming, demanding to know what happened. He felt a vague wetness on his cheeks as arms and hands held him back in a futile gesture. The next thing he knew, he was being slammed against the ground by a flurry of thick blue and gold.

It wasn’t until later that Reyes realized it was his voice and his tears that blinded him. A light sound brought him out of his haze, calling out to him.

“Gabe…” Jesse whimpered before passing out.

Gabriel Reyes was not known for losing his cool. But at this particular moment in time, Gabriel Reyes was only known for the whirlwind of emotion he had become. He refused to calm down until someone told him what the fuck had happened to their ‘99% chance nothing would go wrong’ scout mission. Jack had tried talking to him, tried comforting him, tried everything short of tying him up in one of his own holding cells. He only calmed when Angela Ziegler told him Jesse had asked for him.

Gabe had never run so fast and so frantically. He nearly passed Jesse’s room, skidding to a halt and grabbing the doorframe. His mind was blank of everything except Jesse’s wellbeing. When Gabe entered the room, he removed his beanie and finally fell to his knees next to the bed.

“Jesse,” Gabe whispered. He reached for his good hand, taking it into his.

“Boss?” Jesse’s voice tore at the edges of his throat. He winced, grasped at his side with the hand Gabe was holding. Why was he here? Why did he care? Why did his face look like that? Jesse reached out with a shaky hand for Gabe’s face. His finger gently brushed over his cheek. When a stray tear rolled down his dark skin, leaving a painfully obvious glittering streak, Jesse caught it with his thumb, whisking it away.

Gabe leaned into Jesse’s hand. More tears began to fall as he pressed soft kisses into his palm. He held Jesse’s hand in his, pressed up against his face.

“Jesse… I thought you were gone… and after I let you leave…” Gabe whispered into his hand. He felt Jesse’s fingers press against his skin, weakly pulling him up. Gabe followed Jesse’s guiding hand, slowly standing then leaning over him. The butterflies shooting at his insides with his shotguns had decided to switch to trying to escape through his throat. He let them fly out to engulf them in a pink flickering cloud as he pressed his lips into Jesse’s, his hand going up to hold his face.

Gabe turned his head to continue kissing Jesse. He felt the younger man’s hand drop to his neck, then his chest. Gabe pulled away, their breathing labored from emotion, and pressed his forehead against Jesse’s with his eyes closed.

“I’m so sorry,” Gabe whispered. “For everything.”

Jesse laughed then groaned in a shot of pain. “You’re a goddamn idiot, Gabriel Reyes. Get in this fuckin’ bed.”

Gabe chuckled through his still falling tears and climbed into the bed next to Jesse, curled into him. No matter what the nurses or doctors would say, Gabriel refused to leave Jesse’s side until he was recovered, even going to bionics meetings and physical therapy.

  
**The Descent Into Hell Is Easy**

Laying in bed, Jesse wrapped around him, Gabe played with the mechanical fingers of his lover’s hand. He turned his arm to study the skull design.

“Just couldn’t let go of the skull, eh?” Gabe chuckled.

Jesse hummed. “Neither can you or Blackwatch. Cain’t seem to escape it, darlin’.”

“Touché,” Gabe said. He pulled the fingers up where he placed a gentle kiss on Jesse’s knuckles. The kiss traveled to his palm then up his arm, causing Jess to laugh. Gabe smiled into his skin. He turned onto his side so he could continue kissing up to his shoulder, nose gliding across his collarbones, and face pressing into his neck. Jesse intertwined their legs and ran a hand up and down Gabe’s back.

“Ah—” Jesse gasped when Gabe bit at his chapped lips.

“Sorry,” Gabe said, voice heavy. He rolled Jess over onto his back, going back to peppering kisses all over his body.

“You know how to spoil a man,” Jesse sighed, fingers playing in Gabe’s hair.

“I only know how to spoil you,” Gabe said.

“So spoil me,” Jesse said and pulled Gabe back up, bringing him into a deep kiss.

Without care, Gabe and Jesse clutched at each others skin, gasping into the cool night air and bringing each other to ecstasy over and over again. The necklaces they exchanged on their first Valentine’s Day flying in the air and clinking against each other.

When they finally finished, Jesse rolled off of Gabe onto his back, chest heaving. He grinned slyly at his lover who had his eyes closed, breathing just as hard. Jesse started pressing into him again and pressing kisses on his chest.

“Just think,” Jesse said between kisses, “If you wouldn’t have been so stubborn, we could’ve been doing this a long time ago.”

Gabe grabbed him by the waist and flipped them over, laying his entire weight onto the other man. “Yeah, well, that was then and this is now and now I’m tired.”

“Old man,” Jesse chuckled.

“Troublemaker,” Gabe replied, a smile on his bearded face. He nipped at Jesse’s ear and whispered, “Look what you get me into. I used to be so good at writing reports but now I’m… indisposed.”

“I mean, you could do both: just bend me over your desk.” Jesse groped Gabe’s plump ass.

The commander hummed into Jesse’s neck. “Maybe tomorrow.”

And tomorrow they did. Jesse appeared at Gabe’s door, a couple cases of beer in hand, and a pair of chaps Gabe knew he didn’t need to wear that day. It was ridiculously hard for Gabe to get drunk, but he obliged anyway, letting Jess drink what he wanted and finishing the rest.

When Gabe had flipped Jesse over onto his back on top of the desk, he spoke a sentence Gabe would end up wishing he hadn’t.

“Never leave me,” Jesse gasped out.

Gabe held him close, squeezing his eyes shut to fight off the tears. “Never.”

The Blackwatch commander returned to the geneticist’s lab. Reyes let Moira connect all kinds of nodes to his body.

“I think I finally have it!” The scientist said.

“Have what?” Gabe side-eyed her, wary of her excitement.

“A way to make you stronger, better! A way to help you protect those you love from harm.” Moira stood up straight, her height rivaling Jack’s, if not surpassing him.

“Whatever it is, do it.” All he needed to hear was the word ‘protect’. He would do anything to keep Jesse from harm and out of the hands of Talon.


End file.
